Engaging, Supporting, and Exploring Life

as a Catholic Sister

During National Catholic Sisters Week

As we prepare to celebrate National Catholic Sisters Week March 8-12, we are reminded of how American Catholic Sisters are integral parts of our communities and our Church—generously serving, leading and praying in communities and ministries across the country. We invite you to become part of the hopeful and inspirational story of Catholic sisters and to share this message during National Catholic Sisters Week! One way you can do that is by tapping into a new report and website.

A new report (PDF) from Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities (FADICA), Understanding U.S. Catholic Sisters Today, helps to tell Catholic sisters’ story by challenging stereotypes, revealing a new narrative about Catholic Sisters, and drawing greater attention to the lived reality of Catholic sisters today.

Launched alongside the report is the website www.WeAreSisters.net, designed to encourage engagement with sisters, support for sisters, and exploration of life as a sister. This website has a toolkit of recources and ideas for #NCSW2016. One resource in the toolkit is the poster pictured here.

Understanding U.S. Catholic Sisters Todaydistills mountains of studies and data to produce something accessible yet sophisticated, representing both a resource for learning about religious life and a bridge between women religious and the general public. The report identifies 10 key themes of religious life today, candidly presenting the challenges, opportunities, treasures and relevancy of religious life for today’s women.

The comprehensive report and website ignites the past, present, and future of religious life by answering Pope Francis’ call to men and women religious to remember the past with gratitude, live the present with passion, and embrace the future with hope. Understanding U.S. Catholic Sisters Today and WeAreSisters.net is part of a larger effort to recruit and retain new members who will become young leaders, carrying congregations and service to the Church into future generations.

A Sister of St. Joseph’s Blog

Welcome! This blog is about being a Sister of St. Joseph in today's world. It offers a glimpse into how we connect with God and neighbor in our day-to-day lives. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook or catch up on PREVIOUS POSTS by scrolling down and clicking below the Twitter and Facebook links.

a little bit about me…

I am a Sister of St. Joseph [CSJ]. We are a Roman Catholic religious community of women. We are ordinary women from all walks of life. Our special focus, our mission, is to work for unity and reconciliation where there is brokenness, to help people become whole and holy, individually and together. I work as Director of Communication for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston. There are over 12,000 Sisters of St. Joseph and about 5,000 Associates all over the world. My Boston congregation is one of 16 congregations of Sisters of St. Joseph in the United States. The picture at the top is a view of Le Puy, France, where our community was founded over 360 years ago. It was taken on Easter Sunday, 2005, during a visit to the CSSJ International Centre in Le Puy. You can learn more about the Sisters of St. Joseph at the related websites listed above.